SEMO theater program accredited

Southeast Missouri State University has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre, a designation Dr. Kenneth Stilson said took 13 years to attain.

Stilson, professor of theater and dance, said the accreditation is "our stamp that guarantees that when students come to this program, they're going to receive a certain caliber of training and education to prepare them for life after college."

"It puts us in another class and will go a long way toward our goal of being one of the top undergraduate theater training programs at state universities in the entire Midwest," Stilson said in a university news release.

It also means Southeast has the same quality training program as the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City and Hollywood, Calif., the California Institute of the Arts, Florida State University, Miami University, Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City, The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, Pennsylvania State University, Southern Methodist University, University of California-Los Angeles and Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City, the news release said.

It took many steps to get to this point, including a commitment from the board of regents and administration to build and develop the River Campus and facilities, the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts and the Department of Theatre and Dance, the release said.

"We started from scratch back in 2001 and reinvented this entire program," Stilson said. "We had to create the curriculum for all of our programs."

The accreditation process examines a variety of program aspects from mission to content and quality of curriculum to student and alumni success in the field, recruitment, retention and diversity. It includes having the appropriate number of qualified faculty, appropriate number of staff, production and academic budgets that meet the national standard, and that marketing and library holdings meet certain criteria.

Last spring NAST voted to defer Southeast's bid for accreditation, requesting that the number of voice and movement classes in the acting program be increased, the release said. Resolution of these items began last summer, and the program received approval to hire a 14th faculty member who will begin teaching next fall.

The $23.3 million River Campus expansion project, expected to open next fall, resolved the issue of adequate rehearsal and classroom space, the release said. The curriculum again had to be revised to meet NAST standards and the department, college, university and board of regents again approved it, the release said.

Late last fall, Southeast submitted the university's official response to the 2013 NAST Action Report, the release said. The National Committee on Accreditation reconsidered Southeast's initial self-study, its response to the visitation team report and the official response to the NAST Action Report, the release said.

Asked if he could take a breath now, Stilson said although NAST accreditation is a "major milestone," it's not the end.

"Now we use it as a launchpad to go to the next phase" -- accreditation for the dance program, Stilson said.

Stilson arrived at Southeast in 2001 as chairman of the Department of Speech and Theatre. In 2002, he said, speech and theater split and the Department of Theater and Dance was created.

NAST, which has 177 member organizations, is the national accrediting agency for theater and theater-related disciplines, the release said. The National Committee on Accreditation admitted Southeast as a voting member of NAST at its national meeting in Chicago.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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